Chaos Unbidden
by Psychosomatic Insomniac
Summary: Horrible desires flit through his dreams at night and linger in his mind during the day. She has nightmares about these things. Rape. Violence. Murder. It scares her. He scares her. Chaos is back, and demanding things no one would have dreamed of. Marry her in six months or watch him break her far beyond what can be repaired. V/Y Horrorcentric.
1. Introducing the Nightmare

_A/N: So, I'm a bit rusty on fanfiction. How long's it been, guys? Two, three months? Too long. I suck, I know. I'm sorry._

_To make up for it, I have a brand new creepy-ass fic for you!_

_Quick summary..._

_Horrible desires flit through his dreams at night and linger in his mind during the day. She has nightmares about these things. Rape. Violence. Murder. It scares her. He scares her. Chaos is back, and demanding things no one would have dreamed of. Marry her in six months or watch him break her far beyond what can be repaired. V/Y Horrorcentric._

_It's not much, but I do hope you enjoy it. It's just a working title, so if anyone has any cooler ideas based on my craptastic summary, I'd love to hear them! And oh. If you guys have any advice on how to make the horror more, you know, horror-esque, please review!_

* * *

She woke with a muddled head and raw, shackled wrists. A shadowy figure loomed above her, gleaming eyes flashing a deep, bruised purple in the hazy light of the moon. His laugh echoed off the walls of her skull as she struggled against her chains, screaming for help that both of them knew wouldn't come.

"Time to wake up, princess," He whispered in her ear, forked tongue fanning warm breath against her cold, clammy skin. "It's time to wake up, now."

And then she woke up for real, breathing hard and clutching at her heart like it'd burst through her ribcage if she let go. Her eyes scanned her surroundings with an anxious sort of speed, mind throwing out questions at a mile a minute. _What the hell was that? What's wrong with me? Where am I? And why the fuck do I hurt all over?_

She visibily relaxed a bit when she realized she was in fact in her room. A bit banged up and kind of sore, but nothing a bit of Potions and rest couldn't heal. She curled up deeper into the comforter and rolled over onto her side, figuring a few more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt anyone. They'd be none the wiser if she slept for the rest of the day...

But the shadowy figure occupying the window seat across from her had other thoughts.

He had the same towering build of the shadow that'd hung over her in her dream. But that didn't mean anything, right? Right. Dreams didn't mean a damned thing, not when most of her dreams consisted of her ice cream cartons growing arms and legs and walking out of her freezer.

"Yuffie," The shadow gathered his cloak around him and rose to his feet. "Can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you, idiot," She grabbed a throwing star from underneath her pillow and lobbed it at his head, lip curling up in disgust when he sidestepped it easily.

"It's only been a couple of days, not thirty years."

The thirty-years thing was supposed to sting, but she mused that nothing could sting Vincent Valentine, not even her. He moved to the side of her bed without saying anything more, returning to that everpresent I-am-emotionless expression of his.

"Yuffie, it has been three weeks since I have seen you this responsive."

Her mouth dropped open. "Three weeks? Did you just say three _weeks_? That's...that's almost like a month, right?"

He nodded, as solemn as ever. "Do you remember anything that happened before you went unconscious?"

"Well, I was supposed to go on a date with the redhead who sleeps here sometimes. Oh! And I think Tifa socked me in the mouth a couple times because I kind-of sort-of _maybe_ brought up Cloud's cross-dressing incident."

"Cross-dressing?" Vincent raised a dark eyebrow in disbelief.

"Uhm, Vinnie? Have you _seen_ the guy? He's the prettiest guy I know, excluding you in that suit at Cid and Shera's wedding…" Vincent almost looked bemused, if it was possible to look bemused from behind a clock that covered of his face.

"Anyway! What've you been up to lately? Meet any cute scientists while I was out? Move into another creeptastic mansion? Check out a gothic fashion store for the latest fall cloak colors?"

"Yuffie."

She wondered when exactly he had started leaning down towards her face, because now the same scrap of red, velvety fabric he insisted on wearing over his mouth was only inches from her lips. And damn it all to hell, her heat betrayed her and beat ten times as hard as it had when she'd jolted awake.

"I think maroon would look pretty good on you, don't you think?"

He rested his good hand, the one with flesh and bone and sinew, on the sheet over her shoulder. The other hand, the one with reinforced titanium and screws and something that spelled _danger_, was shaking at his side. "Yuffie..."

"Vincent?" She shot up underneath the covers but his hand slammed into her shoulder, freezing her. He was cold and hard and he _hurt._ His nails were digging into her skin and his voice shook a bit when he said,

"Go get the others. Tuesti. The Tsviet girl." His voice shook a bit when he was visibly disturbed, but Vincent wasn't the type of guy to crush your windpipe. His grip on her shoulder was starting to really scare her, and it seemed like his hand was sliding across her bare skin to cover her neck.

_Shit._

She looked up into his face, searching for something, anything that said it was all an act. A show.

But Vincent Valentine didn't do shows, nor was he a very gifted actor. And she couldn't think of any jokes about it that were mildly funny.

"Vinnie...?"

He stayed silent, ruby-red eyes hard and far-away.

The way the sunlight hit his face made her remember...

He'd been the one cornering her against the window. He'd been the one with her blood on his cheek and his hands in her hair. And he'd been the one about to bodily tear her entire being into ribbons.

She'd had bad dreams about Vincent and his crazy demons before, sure. Loads of times. Like the time she'd dreamt that Hellmasker reduced her perfectly browned toast to ashes (she'd cried). Or the time Death Gigas stole all her clothes while she was in a dressing room at the mall. Even the infamous kiss with Chaos that was anything but chaste.

Yeah, she'd had plenty of dreams about harmless things like that, even blushed about some of the more..._detailed_ dreams she'd had about him, but this one was different. This one was bad. This one left her with a bad taste in her mouth. It felt weird. Wrong

"I'm – I'm gonna go get Cloud, okay? I'll…I'll have him call Reeve!" She started crawling away from him on all fours, never taking her eyes away from his as she scrambled off the bed so fast she fell flat on her behind as she went. She darted right back up again, knees shaking, as she dashed out the door and out of sight.

"Go hide out in Lulu's cave, okay? I'll find you!" Her voice drifted from the stairwell as his good hand closed around the empty air where her throat should've been.

A demon's whisper floated through the folds of his mind as soon as the air quieted, and he fought it just as hard as he fought for everything else in his life. But just like everything else, he couldn't win, and an ancient, rasping voice filled the room the moment she left it.

_Take Yuffie Kisaragi as your wife..._

He grappled with the demon for mental control, but he could feel his vision tunnel into slits, could feel the hollow space where the Protomateria should've been ache, and he knew.

_...or I will take her my way._

He knew.

Chaos was back.

* * *

"Guys! Guys!" She took the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping over the sheets that she'd never disentangled herself from.

"Yuffie, for the last time. It's August. Halloween isn't for another two months, can you _please_ stop cutting up the sheets so you can be a ghost?"

"Cloud, I'm not cutting up the sheets, what the hell are you-" Her gaze flitted to the linens around her, about to accuse him of being batshit-crazy since Meteor. Batshit crazy or not, the guy was right – the sheets had been torn into claw-sized shreds that exposed every inch of skin she'd been trying to hide.

"Shit!" She squeaked and fumbled around with the sheets until she was decent again and then said, "Get Reeve on the phone" in a voice that didn't allow any argument.

Tifa's pretty face became a sickly shade of white that rivaled watery milk, but she covered it quickly, arching an eyebrow and asking, gentle as always, "Yu, are you sure you wanna get back to the WRO so soon? I mean, you were out so long we thought you were – we thought that you could've-"

Cloud punched his wife on the arm and Tifa yelped in surprise. "Been in a coma, I mean! We didn't think that you were really, you know, g-"

Yuffie arched a slender eyebrow and shook her head, hard. "I'll figure out what's up with you two later, there's no point in trying to hide it. But I'm not gonna call about the WRO, Tif. I wanna call our resident science-guy because there's something up with Vincent."

"Worse than mad scientists and creepy laboratories in the basement?"

"Oh yeah, Cloudy boy. Way worse. Like dark purple eyes the color of crushed, rotten grapes and huge, leathery wings that belong on a dragon."

"Shit."

The sound of metal echoing off of hardwood reverberated in the empty bar and three heads spot up to the source.

Vincent Valentine darted past them and out the door without a word, good hand shaking as his claw gleamed gold and terrible in the light of the sun.

"What brought this on?" Tifa didn't dare lift her voice above a whisper, even when they knew he'd been gone for a good ten minutes.

"I…I don't know. I had a freaky dream about a monster in my bedroom and then I woke up and he started leaning over me like he was going to _eat_ _me_ or something."

"Well, that settles it, then. Tifa, get Reeve on the phone."

"Cloud, are you seriou-"

His eyes glimmered a shocking electric blue in the shadows of a flickering lightbulb and both women knew he wasn't kidding.

Tifa swept a dark lock of hair back behind Yuffie's ear. "Cloud, it's nothing. It was only a dream."

"Does this look like it was just a dream?" Cloud jabbed a finger at the sheets that were still draped haphazardly around Yuffie, claw-marks and all marring their surface.

"No, but-"

"But he could've seriously hurt her, Tifa! He could've...he could've raped her!" It was out of his mouth and into the air before he could take it back. The stormy look on Yuffie's face said it'd hit home. It'd hit home hard.

"But he didn't, Cloud! He'd never think of touching anyone that way!" Tifa thundered back, throwing her hands up in exasperation. The blond shut his eyes tight and held his face with one hand, then stalked off to the garage murmuring for Aeris to give him strength.

Tifa turned back to Yuffie. "Ignore him. It doesn't mean anything, sweetie. Dreams are just dreams. Nothing more. You want some ice cream?"

"Sure," Yuffie said distantly as Tifa went to the backroom to get the carton out of the fridge. She bunched the sheets up a little tighter around her, feeling tiny and helpless and cold.

"Dreams are just dreams," she said softly, fingering her mother's jade necklace for strength.

Okay.

She told herself that even as a hard tug of dread threatened to pull her under waves that'd leave her powerless to scream.

* * *

_A/N: Never done something like this before. For all of you who reviewed, I'm sorry to say I've changed this chapter since then. I just...I don't know. I didn't like the idea of writing a rape scene, no matter how vague it is. So I rewrote the whole thing, and hopefully, it shows. See you guys next chapter? :)_

_(this looked so much longer on my phone...*sadface* I guess seven pages isn't all that much these days, is it?)_


	2. Introducing the Agreement

_A/N: I have returned! See? See? I told you I would! I was in the middle of writing this and thought I should go back and fix up the first chapter, so I added some little bits and pieces. Even gave it a title. WOOO! (go me, go me..)_

_Anyway! I'm kind of proud of this chapter. It's got a bit of a darker edge in the beginning, though that melts away as the bedroom scene comes into play. You've been warned! Happy reading! ^_^_

* * *

"Sure," she said, voice as flat and cold as the air in the room. "He's all yours."

Shelke's glistening teeth curved into a wan smile that reminded Yuffie of a hungry, rabid dog.

"That's not what I'm asking you to agree to," The Tsviet girl replied.

"But that's the idea, isn't it? You're willing to give me what I want as long as the others think I've fallen off the face of the earth. Ran away. Died. Whatever, as long as it's not really gonna happen-"

Shelke's lips curled into a smirk again. "It doesn't have to be faked, you know."

"No one else knows, do they?" Yuffie felt tears stinging her eyes.

"No, they do not."

"And you're sure this is what will keep him safe? You saw it in her memories?" Yuffie's heart had leapt into her throat at the thought of hope for him. She'd thrown away any and all thoughts of hope for _them_ long ago, but she could live with this. She could live with herself, knowing that he'd be okay. Safe. Free.

"I've seen lots of things, Kisaragi."

"Alright then. Do you have the files?" Her knees shook even as she stood her ground. She might've been over a foot taller than Shelke, but that didn't make the girl any less unnerving. There was just something...off about her. It was unsettling, to say the least.

The Tsviet girl pushed a manila folder across the desk without saying a word. Yuffie waited til her hands had strayed back to her lap before swiping it, and a pen, up in one fell swoop.

She didn't scan any of the information in the folder. It didn't matter. They'd go over the more minute details in greater lengths once all the paperwork was complete, and for that, the guys down at the labs needed a signature.

"Where do I sign?"

Shelke opened the folder and flipped through the first few pages. She hummed to herself quietly, legs swinging back and forth underneath the desk. When she found the section she was looking for, she pointed a pale, slender finger at a vast, empty space in a sea of inky-black typeface. "There."

Yuffie scrawled her name across the page in a shaky, spidery hand. "You're sure about this, Shelke?"

"As certain as I can be."

"But what happens if it doesn't work? I don't know if I can fool those guys." She said quietly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she did. _Stupid nervous habits..._

"Your track record says you've done worse than that to the ones you call family, Yuffie."

She winced and stopped playing with her hair. "You're right. Okay. I'm in. And if I've got any questions?"

"It's all in the file."

But it really hadn't been. Otherwise, she would've never said yes.

* * *

By the time Yuffie trudged up the stairs and into her room down the hall, she wasn't surprised the bar was so still. It was too late to stay up, but too early to open for business. She pushed the door to her room open with her boot, suppressing a yawn as she walked over to her bed. She plopped down headfirst into the mattress, relishing the feeling of soft, clean sheets underneath her. She hadn't meant to be out so late, she'd just needed to have a couple drinks to take her mind off of that meeting with Shelke. It'd been beyond creepy.

She hadn't seen the girl in years before that afternoon, and now she knew why. The girl had really delved into the whole wolfish-charm thing, letting her teeth grow out long and sharp, her hair tangled and matted with dirt. There'd been a time during Deepground when Yuffie had really worried that Shelke would've stolen Vincent away from her (as if she'd had him in the first place), but those worries were put to rest the moment Yuffie saw Shelke's haunted, empty eyes that afternoon. It looked like Lucrecia had won the fight for control, after all….

Yuffie had been out so long that it looked like even Vince hadn't waited up for her. The bar had been dark when she'd snuck in through the back door, and Lulu's cave had been as ethereal and silent as ever when she'd looked for him, there, too. She rolled over onto her side, staring out at the window with impassive, unseeing eyes. She missed Vincent's soft, subtle presence hovering at the windowsill. Missed his silent footfalls as he paced the length of her room, eyebrows knit together in worry. Missed that secret smile of his he'd hide under the folds of his cloak when he thought no one would see. She'd always seen those things, always known. She should've gone over the files one last time, just to make sure she'd really gotten the gist of the information. But Shelke knew what she was doing. It'd be fine, right?

Right.

Yuffie let her gaze wander up to the waning crescent moon and thought, _you've gotta hand it to Vince. He really knows how to pick 'em…Lucrecia Crescent…Lucrecia Crescent… How the hell did I ever think I'd be able to compete with that?_

She laughed to herself as a couple of rebel tears slid over her nose and onto the pillowcase. Fuck, it didn't matter now. Soon, it'd all be over. The empire Lucrecia had strived to create would come crashing down, with Yuffie at the helm.

_Goodbye, good riddance. Bitch…_

As Yuffie drifted off under a dark wave of sleep, she wondered if it'd really be that simple. She guessed not, but figured it was worth a try. And a damn good one, at that. Anything was worth it, where a friend's salvation was concerned.

And she supposed Vinnie needed a lot of that.

* * *

The next morning, as Yuffie began stirring from sleep, she thought she heard the bed wince under something's weight. Images of rabid tonberries flew through her head, with Shelke urging them to eat her face off. Then the Tsviet girl would join in like the creep she was.

"Fuck off, you mutated lizards!" She opened her eyes and grabbed the first thing she saw, whirling it at the fuzzy form of what had to have been a crazed lizard. Said lizard proceeded to wince and rub its eye in annoyance.

"Yuffie, for the last time," The lizard said hoarsely, the wind momentarily knocked out of it. "I am not a mutated lizard, nor have I ever been one. And since I do not plan on becoming a mutated lizard anytime soon, I would appreciate it if you stopped hitting me with your pillows. I think you forgot to take the throwing star out of that one..."

Yuffie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and bit down hard on her lip when the shadowy silhouette of an evil tonberry merged into the solid shape of Vincent. An annoyed, bleeding Vincent.

"Vinnie, I am so sorry! Do you need ice? I can go get you ice!" Yuffie sprang into a handstand and tried launching herself off the bed, but only succeeded in getting tangled up in the sheets stuck to her legs. "Shit!"

The ground rose up to kiss her goodmorning.

A warm arm tugged her up by the waist and lingered a little too long, even after she was safely back on the bed.

"I do not need ice, Yuffie. Although I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to jump out of bed like that, there's going to be a time when I can't rescue you from those horrible sheets." Vincent's garnet eyes were unusually haunted for a moment, even as Yuffie squealed,

"Vinnie made a funny!"

Vincent's eyes knit together in confusion. "A funny?"

Yuffie sighed, exasperated. "It's an expression. Are you sure you don't need ice? I think that throwing star might've messed something up, in there."

She crawled over to where he sat and leaned in close, warm breath fanning over his face.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm checking for brain damage, dummy!" Yuffie peered into Vincent's face and then leaned a little lower to inspect what she could see of his ears. They were hidden beneath that waterfall of ebony hair she could only wish she had. Stupid hair. Stupid ears. Stupid Vincent.

"Right. Because I'd get brain damage from being hit in the eye, hn?" Vincent said good-naturedly, even as Yuffie squirmed around on the bed, trying to examine for as many signs of trauma as she could.

"I bet it's possible..." Yuffie said as she cocked her head to take another look at the wound. "Maybe we should ask Tifa, it looks pretty gross."

Yuffie made to get up again but Vincent caught her by the hand to stop her. He pulled her back against his chest and murmured, "What did I tell you about getting up too fast?" in a voice warm enough to melt honey.

"I uhm...you said...not to?" Her voice came out in a low, childish squeak.

"Exactly," he whispered into her hair. "I won't let go until you realize that I'm completely serious, Yuffie. You can't put your body through that much stress, yet. It still needs time to heal from the accident. _You _still need time to heal from the accident."

"What happened, again?" Yuffie asked quietly, voice barely above a whisper. She was afraid if she said anything too loud, it'd break the spell. And she wasn't quite ready for such a hex to be broken, just yet.

"We were in the midst of a battle, Yuffie."

"Tonberries?"

Vincent nodded gravely. "Tonberries. Just as it seemed like the enemy lines were waning, a new wave appeared from behind. You'd been a bit busy celebrating to notice. I tried to warn you, but I spoke up too late. The creatures sprang on you unaware, and I lost control-" Vincent's good hand shook on her arm.

"You kicked their asses, huh?"

Vincent's eyes grew hard and far-away again. He came back to himself after a long moment of silence and shook his head, a small smile spreading across his face. "Yes, Yuffie. Now I think it's best for you to get some rest."

He made to shift his body so that Yuffie was lying under him on her pillow. He scooped her up gently, careful to avoid snagging a claw on her tank top.

"What about your hand?" Yuffie whispered, pointing a slender finger at his human appendage. It hadn't stopped shaking since he'd mentioned losing control, and she didn't like it.

"My hand? Yuffie, there's nothing wrong with my hand. You hit my eye, remember?" Vincent's smile didn't reach his eyes. It looked too flimsy. Forced. And it definitely didn't suit him. But his voice smoothed away all her doubts, and she couldn't remember what she'd been so worried about.

"Mmm, you're right." She rolled over onto her side, away from his gaze. He pulled the quilt up over half of her body, the way she liked it, and leaned back a bit to let her stretch her legs. "Sorry, Vinnie...mus' be a bit tired out."

He made to get off the bed and settle into the window seat, but she caught his human hand in her own. "Stay?"

"Yuffie, I don't know if that's such a good-"

"Stay." She said again, sitting upright and fixing him with a hard stare.

He sighed and ran his other hand through his hair. "Just until you fall asleep."

She nodded and settled back against her pillows again. "Just until I fall asleep."

They talked about tonberries, the weather, orange slices, cross-dressing, and going to the beach someday when all this hero-stuff was over. She fell asleep somewhere between a spirited debate about what the best summer treat was - ice cream or popcorn, and talk of getting married.

"Not to you, of course," She said with a wry smile that made it hard for him to tell if she really meant it.

"Of course not." A part of him hoped she hadn't.

"Maybe by the time me and you get married, my old man will give the whole you-gotta-run-Wutai-and-have-a-heir-dearest-daughter speech a friggin' rest. It's annoying, you know?"

"You and I?" For once, Vincent was glad he'd chosen to shield his face with the tattered red cloak. He knew there was no way she could see his cheeks beginning to flush.

"Well, yeah, me and you! But not to each other, silly. You can marry Rude," She said as she snuggled into the tail ends of his cloak. "He's dark and tanned and all I-am-emotionless too. Idunno, I've always thought he was kinda cute. But I call dibs on the redheaded guy, he's cuter."

"I see," He whispered as her eyes fluttered closed. He sat still for a good twenty more minutes and kept hold of her hand like she'd said. She stirred once, murmuring something about pancakes and jell-o, but he urged her back to the bed with his free hand. When he was sure she was truly asleep, and sleeping peacefully, he moved off the bed and started walking towards the door.

His hand still shook, and his teeth were beginning to chatter, but a warm feeling swirled around in his stomach when he glanced back at her tiny form. She was tangled up in the sheets again, and chewing on her knuckle in her sleep, but that didn't matter.

She was whole.

She was safe.

And it was better this way.

He had a feeling he could brave the murmurings of this evil, had a feeling he could learn to live with it, but only if he could manage to keep her – and all his other friends, of course - far away from its reach. And as he walked out of her room and shut the door behind him as gently as he could, he knew it was easier said than done.

He wasn't sure which was going to be harder to control: the ancient whispers of a demon that had re-emerged inside his heart, or the urge to brush his hand against her cheek that lingered long after he left her. It was all just too much for one day. He walked into his own room, treading softly so he wouldn't wake her. By the time he was settled into his own bed, he fell asleep with a book in his lap, hand stretching to the place where her cheek would've been.

* * *

_A/N: So, *grins* Did you like the little fake-out I gave you guys in the first A/N? It technically **is **a bedroom scene, just probably not the kind of scene you were thinking. Hehehe...I'm rotten, I know, I know..._

_But oh hey, I do have to say: I borrowed a bit of the beginning scene from this lovely lady, xxfatal. She had a similar scene in her story "Meet Mr and Mrs Con", a fic about what happens when Yuffie and Vince go on a reconnaissance mission as a married couple. It's great, really. Go check it out while you wait for me to turn out the next chapter, okay? I promise you won't be disappointed! **With her work, not mine. I can't promise you won't think my next chapter totally sucks.**_


	3. Introducing the Juice

_So I was reading some classic Yuffie/Vince fanfiction and practically melted into a puddle of happiness. It was all so vivid and perfect and real, you know? After that, the plot bunnies cornered me and demanded that I update this for you guys, if any of you are still interested. Now, I can't say you'll be melting into a puddle of happiness by the end of this chapter, but I can say that I'll make sure it happens, soon. I did, however, try to lighten this one with a little bit of fluff at towards the end._

* * *

_three_

"What do you think brought all this on?" Tifa asked in a low whisper, eyes cast towards the rooms upstairs.

"Well, you kept giving me these quick glances all day and I just knew you wanted-"

"Cloud!" She whacked him on the arm. "I wasn't talking about that."

Cloud laughed a little and ran a hand through his hair the way a nervous child bites their nails. "Oh. Well, I mean, do you want to, because I was just thinking-"

Tifa gave her husband an exasperated look. "I wasn't talking about us, Cloud. I was talking about Vincent and Yuffie."

The blonde's eyes widened, looking like vibrant blue saucers in the dim light of the bar. "They're doing that too?"

"_No!"_ She was tempted to whack him on the arm again, or maybe even the head, but thought better about it and kept her hands at her sides. "I mean, all that stuff this morning. Yuffie's nightmare, Vincent's weird attitude, and the whole shaking-hands thing. I think it was just a bit too much to handle."

"You're the one who said dreams are just dreams, Tif." Cloud leaned into her for a kiss but she turned her head so his lips met the corner of her mouth.

"I know. And they are. I just wish I knew something…" She bit her lip and shook her head. "I mean, like, is any of this for real, or not?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Have you been hanging out with that spikey-haired kid lately?"

Tifa's pretty face screwed up in confusion. "I don't know any spikey haired kids…Cloud, are you feeling alright? Seeing any crazy silver-haired weirdos? Or dead girls walking through an empty field?"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm fine. I just…I don't know. Sometimes I remember things that I can't sort out. I feel like they're not really my memories." He sighed, shook his head, and then added, "But I do know Aeris wouldn't like being called a dead girl."

Tifa gave him a blinding smile as she leaned into his lips. "Well then I guess she wouldn't like this, either."

She tugged at his shirt and he laughed, mid-kiss. "Again?"

"Again."

Tifa kicked the door to his office closed with her boot.

* * *

"Yeah," The blue-eyed girl said offhandedly. "I tricked her."

The man sitting behind the desk put held his head in his hands. "Why would you do that to her?"

"She's a selfish, carefree girl. The planet has nearly been destroyed three times in her entire life, but she still walks around with sticky fingers and wandering eyes. Why would I give her something so precious when all she does is take?"

"She may be a carefree, wandering spirit, I admit. But that does not give you the right to do such a thing to her, or her partner. It's deceitful. It's wrong." The man closed his deep brown, almond-shaped eyes in an attempt to block out the wave of pain that unfurled behind them. "And I…I expected better of you."

"You should know that you can't expect anything from a girl with my past. Nothing but lies, death, and justice." She gave him a wry smile. "Justice always comes first."

"And you're honestly saying you support this girl doing this to herself? Have you even read the fine print of this agreement?"

The girl stepped out of the shadows of the office and into a small patch of sunlight. He could see that her eyes resembled that of a tormented lone wolf.

"Of course I have. I wrote it."

He nearly fell off his chair in disbelief. Emotions flicked across his face, in his eyes. His body crumpled in disappointment, and even betrayal as he buried his face in his hands again and waved a hand at the door. "Leave."

"I thought you were treating me to dinner?"

"I will treat you to the door, Miss Rui." The man's smooth, flowing voice twisted into something rough and gravelly.

"But I wanted to go over the-" The girl protested, but he saw it coming.

"I don't think I will be able to go over anything with you for a long time. I cannot, and will not, allow you to take advantage of my friends' sorrows in such a sadistic and heartless way. I thought you were better than that. But I was wrong." He waved a hand at the door again. "Now please, leave."

The girl spun on her heel, auburn hair leaving a fiery red imprint on the man's eyes as he watched her form fade into the gloomy darkness. After waiting a good while to ensure she was really gone, Reeve Tuesti allowed himself to cry for the first time in almost seven years.

* * *

"It was my fault." Vincent's voice was laced with a passive, dull sort of anger, one she would know anywhere. He was wrestling with himself in one of those guilt-complexes about his dead chick again. "I don't know why I do this to myself. You would think that after thirty years of being sealed away from the world, I would learn to let things be. You would think I would have learned the true meaning of atonement and left this place when I had the chance. But I stayed. I tried protecting her. And my presence has only done far worse than good."

She could just barely hear his footfalls on the hardwood and had the urge to peek around the door. He was pacing so quietly, she could've sworn he'd taken off his boots. But he'd never do that. He'd told them he couldn't.

"I can't pretend I belong in this place. You know that."

He laughed to an empty room. "Yes, I suppose that is true. I don't belong anywhere."

She heard the bed springs squeak as he sat down. "But perhaps that is the price I pay for this new sin."

A wind blew the door open a crack more, and she could see a pair of mismatched red and yellow eyes staring back at her. She could feel the yellow one's gaze drilling a hole into her back as she backpedaled away from the door and down the stairs.

_What was that? What the hell did I just see? _Yuffie held onto the stair's railing as she descended back down to the bar. Save for Tifa wiping down a counter, the place was almost empty. Once she caught sight of the redhead passed out at her usual table, though, she had to remind herself that this place was never really empty.

"He's too cute when he sleeps. I just wish he'd be that nice when he was awake, too."

Yuffie pushed herself up onto a barstool and sighed in agreement. "If he was a male model, you can bet I'd go back to school for that photography minor. I'd snap pictures of him _allll_ day, in whatever he was comfortable in."

Tifa grinned sheepishly while wiping down a shot glass. "You know his type. He's probably one of those guys who walks around their house shirtless."

Yuffie grinned back, eyes running over the redhead's face again. "I wouldn't mind if he wore less than that, though."

The door to Cloud's office swung open and he greeted both women with a "Morning, ladies." He chugged down a glass of orange juice that'd been waiting for him like it was a shot of vodka, smiled, and then said, "Wish I could stay and chat, but I've gotta take a package to Icicle Inn by five."

"Icicle Inn? Well, what the hell are you still doing here? Get outta here, Spike!" Yuffie jabbed a finger at the door and Cloud laughed and ruffled her hair.

"I'm goin', brat. Stop hanging out with Cid, so much, or you'll start saying worse than that."

"You can't stop me!" Yuffie yelled, then stuck out her tongue like a child who'd won a fight with their older brother. "I can do whatever the hell I want!"

Cloud chugged another glass of orange juice, kissed Tifa on the cheek, and then headed for the door. He heard Yuffie ask his wife for a beer, and her polite but firm decline.

She heard Yuffie slam her hand down on the table in annoyance. "You can't do that to me! I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! The Single White Rose of Wutai! The coolest thieving ninja-princess that ever walked the face of the earth!"

"You might be all those things, Yuff, but you're still only twenty." Tifa pointed to the sign on the door. "And you know I don't do any underage serving here."

"But Tifaaaaa…"

Cloud smiled on his way out the door. Some things never changed. Yuffie slumped back on her stool and crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child.

"Okay, fine. You got any juice boxes?"

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "You were just talking about taking naked pictures of the guy who sleeps here on Thursdays, but now you're asking me for a juice box?"

"_Yes, _Boobs, I'm asking you for a juice box. Gawd, the service here sucks! You people won't give me anything!" Yuffie yelled.

Tifa raised an eyebrow in amusement. "…Yuffie, I'm the only one that works here."

"Riight...about that, Boobs-" They heard footsteps on the stairs and Yuffie's mouth went dry, mid-sentence.

"What about it, Yuffs?"

"I uh…I gotta go take care of my cats!" She jumped off the barstool and whirled past Tifa and Vincent without another word.

Tifa only raised an eyebrow at her departure and said, "I swear, she doesn't have any cats."

Vincent sat down at the stool Yuffie had just vacated. He could still smell the faint scent of cherry blossoms, honey shampoo, and jasmine perfume. "Oh, she does. But I'm not sure why she'd want to travel all the way back to Wutai just to take care of a few kittens when she knows her staff can handle them."

Tifa shrugged and shook the carton of orange juice. "Weird. You want some?"

He considered it for a moment. "Pulp or no pulp?"

"Pulp."

"Well then, yes, I suppose a glass of orange juice would be fine. Thank you, Tifa."

She nodded a _you're welcome_ and slipped back into the shadows of the kitchen, deciding that it was probably best she not ask about his mismatched eyes, today. She'd seen Vincent turn into a lot worse, and it was always better not to ask questions where his appearance was concerned.

As he sipped at his juice, he had the vaguest sense that Yuffie had told him it was the way she drank it when she was a kid.

"_My mom used to tell me the pulp was really just little pieces of oranges' brains."_

"_Yuffie, oranges don't possess any brains."_

"_Shut up, Broody, you're ruining the moment." She'd clinked her glass with his like they were making a toast._

"_My apologizes, then. I had no idea we were celebrating."_

"_Of course we are."_

"_What shall we toast to, then?"_

"_We should toast to this hideous Sunday morning I have to spend with you. It's raining and cold and total grossness, but I'm happy I'm here inside this creeptastic mansion with you."_

"_A toast, then, to this hideous and grossness Sunday morning spent with you in my kitchen." Vincent clinked his glass with Yuffie's and allowed himself a rare smile as her face lit up in shock, and then, the utmost glee._

"_You're a real piece of work, Broodster."_

"_I could say the same about you, Yuffie."_

He shook his head to rid himself of the memory. What had happened to that, those easy mornings in his kitchen with her? What had happened to all those late night break-ins when she couldn't sleep in her own house because the thunder was too loud? Or all those plans she'd make at picking his locks when she knew he left all his doors unlocked for her?

His presence must have tainted her.

She must've hated him for something he had done.

_So perhaps I should rid her of any further contamination. Maybe it would be best for all of us, that way…_

He figured that a visit to the Northern Crater sounded like as good a plan as any.

* * *

_So, what'd you think?_

_I haven't decided if I want the cute little redhead to be Reno or not, but either way, I think a love triangle would be fun. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with fanfic love triangles when I myself hateddd being in one. (The love on my end was totally one existent, but that's okay.)_

_Anyyyway!_

_I'll leave you guys to review and favorite and all that, if you want. If you've got any ideas on if the redhead really should be Reno or someone else, add that to any comments you want to give me. :3 Thanks, guys! See you next time!_


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